Hi. My name is Benjamin the bearded seal. I live way up north in the Arctic islands of Svalbard, which is part of Norway. It is really pretty up here, especially in the summer when I often just lie around on an ice floe near a tidewater glacier. I have relatives all the way from Canada to Greenland to Siberia, but I tend to just stay around Spitsbergen, and only occasionally I go over to the island of Jan Mayen for a vacation. I am the largest of the Arctic seals, and as you can see, I have a great big moustache, which is highly sensitive to touch. I use my whiskers to explore the bottom of the sea floor to find things I like to eat such as crabs, shrimp, clams and sometimes fish. I really love seafood! Almost every year since I was about seven, I have mated with a female and have had a pup. The mother cares for the pup for only two weeks, and then the little one is left to molt into its adult fur and fend for itself. My main predators are polar bears (yikes!) and humans. People sometimes hunt us for our meat, our blubber, and our skin for clothing, waterproof shoes and coverings for kayaks.
Today I heard some people riding around in small black rubber boats, but I realized that they weren’t here to hunt me, thank goodness! They were from a blue and white ship called M.S. Endeavour, and they only wanted to look at my big moustache and take my photo because I am so handsome. So I just relaxed on my ice floe and smiled for the cameras, and after a while they went back to their cozy ship for some hot chocolate and lunch. I bet some of them had fish. Lucky people!
